Fabric dyeing machine



Aug; 2, 1932- F. DUFFY FABRIC DYEING MACHINE Filed 001;. 26, 1929 w 0oommommod ooweooooooo 5 5 oa uoooooooo mooaooawwoo 4 Patented Aug. 2, 1932 UNE'I'E FABRIG DYEING MACHINE Application filed October 26, 1929.

My invention relates to machines for dyeing fabrics, and is more particularly directed toward the dyeing of manufactured articles of clothing such as stockings etc.

'5 The object of my invention is to construct a machine of this character in which the dyeing liquid and articles immersed thereina're thoroughly agitated and a constant flow of dyeing liquid continuously passed through every portion of the fabric contained in the machine. w

A further object'of my invention is to so construct my machine that the fabrics contained therein are not, through the action of the machine, brought into close frictional contact with those parts of the machine in which the fabrics are contained.

A still further object of my invention is'to provide a plurality of perforated fabric containers mounted for movement in the'dyeing liquid and to furnish the bottoms of such containers with deflecting members which produce a constant upward flow of dyeing v liquid through the contained fabrics, and

another object of. my invention is to provide my machine with very simple and positive actuating mechanism.

My invention consists of a dyeing machine constructed and arranged all as hereinafter more particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is asideelevational view of my ma- 7 chine, part of the bottom'thereof being broken away to disclose the dyeing liquid heating steam pipe.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of my device.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken through the line 3-3 Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of one of the fabric containers of my machine, the bottom portion of such container being broken away to disclose a section through the deflecting member positioned thereunder.

In the drawing like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the different news.-

My dyeing liquid containing member comprises an open topped cylindrical member 1 of greater diameter than height and mounted Serial No. 402,744,

upon a base 2 through which passes a steam pipe 3 which enters the member 1 and forms a coil 4, such coil being furnished with a plurality of perforations so that the steam passes into the dyeing liquid contained in 56 such member 1 and retains it at the required temperature.

Centrally of the member 1, I furnish an up; wardly extending tubular sleeve 5 which is rigidly secured to the bottom of the member 1 and contains a bearing metal liner 6, the sleeve 5 being approximately the same height as the depth of the member 1.

- Rotatably supported upon the top of the member 1,-I provide a cover plate 7, such '5 cover-plate being furnished with a central raised cylindrical portion 8 containing the upper end of a downwardly extending spindle 9, such spindle 9 being contained within the liner 6. g In the vicinity of the periphery of the lower face of the cover plate 7, which is of slightly larger diameter than the diameter of the member 1, I provide a ring gear 10 which extends downwardly and surrounds the upper edge 11 of the member 1. Such upper edge 11 of the member 1 being rolled inwardly so that the cover'plate 7 has. a smooth bearingsurface and such roll also prevents the dyeing liquid from splashing out underneath the cover plate.

The cover plate 7 is rotated to and fro. and this movement can, of course. be produced by any suitable mechanism. In my device. as illustrated in the drawing, I provide a U-shaped bracket 12 which is secured'to the side of the member 1 and extends upwardly above its top. In this U-shaped bracket, underneath the ring gear 10, I mount a shaft 13 provided with a gear 14 upon its inner end which meshes with the ring gear 10. Interiorly of the U-shaped portion 12 I mount three belt pulleys 15, 16 and'17 upon the shaft 13, the pulleys 15 and 17 being free upon the shaft, and the pulley 16 secured thereon. Above the shaft 13 is positioned a driving shaft 18 having a pair of belt pulleys 19 and 20 secured thereon, such pulleys being positioned in alignment with the lower pulleys and of a combined width equal to the combined width of the pulleys 15, 16 and 17.

As shown in the drawing 21 is a belt extending from the pulley 19 to the pulley 15 and 22 is a crossed belt extending from the pulley 20 to the free pulley 16. It will be obvious from this construction that when the drive shaft 18 is rotating the pulley 16 and shaft 13 will be rotating in one direction whilst the free pulley 15 is rotating in the opposite direction.

In the upper portion of the U-shaped mem ber 12 to one side of the belts 21 and 22 I slidably mount a flat bar 23 which is of greater length than the width of the U-shaped member 12, and upon such b'ar furnish forks 24 extending around the belts. Upon the inner end of the bar 23 l mount a down wardly extending spindle 25 carrying a roller 26. Upon the top of the cover plate 7 I mount a cam 27 having inwardly and outwardly turned ends 28 and 29, such ends being adapted to come into contact with roller 26 to reciprocate the bar 23, as shall be hereinafter explained.

The cover plate 7 supports a plurality of my fabric containers 33 which are of open topped cylindrical form and extend downwardly from spaced apart orifices 34C in the cover plate 7. The containers 33 are perforated both in their sides and bottoms, such perforations 35 being small enough to prevent the contained fabrics from being carried out of the containers therethrough.

Upon the lower faces of the bottoms 30 of the containers 1 provide my deflectors 31', such deflectors being inclined downwardly from the centres of the bottoms towards their peripheral edges, sides 32 extending from the edges of the deflectors 31 to the lower faces of the'bottoms 30, so that scoops are formed upon the bottoms of the containers, two scoops being provided on each container facin the two directions of movement' of the container. 1

The operation of my device is as follows:

The member 1 is first filled to the desired height with the dyeing liquid, and steam passed from the steam coil 4 into such liquid to raise it to and maintain it at the desired dyeing temperature. The fabric articles to be dyed are then placed within the containers 33 so that they are immersed as such containers project into the liquid.

If the driving mechanism is in the posi tion illustrated in Fig. 1 and the driving shaft 18 rotated, the rotation of the pulley shaft 13, through the medium of the pulley 20, crossed belt 22 and pulley 16 will rotate its gear 1 1' so that such gear engagement with the ring gear 10 will rotate the cover plate 7 and containers 33 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. As the cam member 27 approaches the roller 26 its inwardly turned end 28 will engage such roller and slide the bar23 outwardly with the consequent sliding movement of the belts 21 and 22 through the engagement of the forks 24 with the belts. As the belts 21 and 22 are slid outwardly the belt 21 will pass from the free pulley 15 on to the secured pulley 16 and the belt 22 will pass from the secured pulley 16 on to the free pulley 17. As the belt 21 is not crossed, it will, of course, rotate the pulley 17 in the opposite direction with the consequent opposite rotation of the shaft 13, gear 14: and cover plate 7. As the cover plate 7 swings around in the opposite direction the opposite out-turned end 29 of the cam 27 will, as the cover plate 7 completes its rotation, engage the roller 26 and slide the bar 23 inwardly so that the belts are slid back into their original position with the consequent reversal movement of the shaft 13 and the cover plate.

The to and fro agitating movement ofthe containers within the liquid will, ,of course, cause the liquid to. surge through the perforations 35 and pass through the fabrics which will be also agitated through such liquid movement. It will also be apparent that the deflectors or scoops 31 will cause the upward flow of currents of liquid through the perforations 35 into the bottoms of the containers thus lifting the fabrics up and keeping them from lying upon the bottoms of the containers so that they are thoroughly and evenly subjected to the agitated movement of the dyeing liquid. 1

As the change of direction of rotation of my containers gradually takes place through comparatively slow sliding movement of the belts when they are being slid from one set of pulleys to the other, the fabrics in the containers will not be brought into violent contact with the container walls, but through the s surging of the dyeing liquid within the containers will be kept to a great extent away from the walls and bottoms of the containers. This is an important feature as the recurrent frictional contact between fabrics in the liq uid and the liquid container causes a nap to form upon the fabrics, and in the case of stockings and similar articles, this formation of nap is a very undesirable feature as it has to be afterwards removed through a special process.

It will also be further apparent that it will not be necessary for me to place the fabric articles to be dyed within dyeing bags as is the case in other types of dyeing machines,

and furthermore my cover plate 7 with its containers can be bodily lifted from one machine and positioned upon another similar machine so that the fabric articles may be subjected to two or more dyeing or rinsing operations without removal from the containers into which they were originally placed.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that I have devised a particularly simple and eflicient dyeing machine which will thoroughly subject the fabrics to the action of the dyeing liquid, and although I have shown and described a particular embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that I can make such changes and alterations as I may, from time to time, deem necessary without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a fabric dyeing machine, a dyeing liquid containing receptacle, a rotary cover plate positioned upon the top of the receptacle and having a plurality of orifices therein, and a plurality of perforate fabric containers extending downwardly from the orifices in the cover plate into the dyeing liquid. 7

2. In a fabric dyeing machine, a dyeing liquid containing receptacle open at its top, a sleeve extending upwardly from the bottom of the receptacle centrally thereof, a rotary cover plate positioned on top of the receptacle and having a plurality of orifices therein, a spindle extending downwardly from the cover plate and container within the sleeve, and a plurality of perforate fabric containers extending downwardly from the orifices in the cover plate into the dyeing liquid.

3. In a fabric dyeing machine, a dyeing liquid containing receptacle open at its top,

a rotary cover plate positioned above the top of the receptacle and having a plurality of orifices therein positioned around the centre of rotation of the cover plate, and a plurality of perforate fabric containers extending downwardly from the orifices in the cover plate into the dyeing liquid.

FRANCIS DUFFY. 

